22 Foxhole East

greenbee

I like food too. However, I've realised that during the working week I find it far too much hard like hard work. I was on a call to the fatigue clinic (I have long covid) and it dawned on me that there's no rule that says we have to eat multiple times a day. One meal a day during the week has been a huge improvement and should have benefits for my waistline too. And if I stick to low carb, for my energy levels in the long run! It'll also help my budget.

In fact, it seems to be working already, as I've started sending off emails to the trades I need. Including a roofer (I need some slipped slates fixing/replacing). Although I suspect it'll be easier to retrain than to find someone to actually turn up and do the jobs on my list. 

I think it'll be well worth you getting the roof done, then you can forget about it and get on with other things. 

crazy_cat_lady

Hate to ruin your Autumn plans f0xh0les, but the equinox isn't until about the 22nd September. Not too far away but still a little more daylight than night time at the moment.
Good luck with getting back on the good food wagon. I could use some of your inspiration please.

kerri_gt

I think I am part goat, I tend to graze...constantly. the only positive is that the home office is upstairs so at least i get my steps in walking to and from the kitchen. 

I restocked our tea bags the other week (find Lidl ones fine, not the One Cup ones but the ones that look almost exactly the same in a red box) 6 boxes bought,  think they have 180 per box...i will be buying more before xmas. 
Used to like ones called 'The London Cuppa' but they don't seem to exist anymore.

@f0xh0les do the walls even scupper a wireless booster / extender? I got one for the back of the house as the signal was often poor upstairs and outside and it's worked a treat. That said, it only needs to boost through one thick outside wall. 

f0xh0les

They are solid brick between the room it is in and the back bedroom, then it has to get downstairs, through another brick wall, and then diagonally through another brick wall, the far brick wall of the pantry, and then it is in the kitchen.  So in reality, in a 'normal' new build, it would be like using the person's wifi from four or five  doors up while sat in bed. We have a wireless booster, but it drops so much we gave up. Annoyingly, if I open the window and stick the laptop out of it, it picks up the wifi perfectly, it is just one wall too far.

I have fallen in with Tw1nings Earl Grey.  I just love it. Good job as I seem to have bought 1080 bags which is 3.6p a bag instead of 5p or more from the supermarket.

Will buy one or two of those XXL filter coffee 4 packs in the Herr L shop on Tuesday. That might do me until 2022 if DH goes back to work in The Tower. 

Of course the equinox is 22 September! I have spent the last couple of days updating the diaries with all the September and October - end of year dates of things I am supposed to be up to, and to be honest, I had mentally finished with August and had moved on - even turned the page on the wall calendar.  Except financially as payday is tomorrow and now I have to sit on my hands waiting to see how much DH gets paid, if the ActionShortOfStrike  (ASOS) threatened pay reduction will go out, or not, how much is left after a nearly £400 credit card bill and how much I can get away with paying off the mortgage.  Plus we have to factor in DS1 moving out in September. 

He told me yesterday he still needs pillows, a duvet, 2 duvet covers, toiletries, food etc.  I honestly think he is expecting me to fill up his fridge and freezer for him!  He does not even come out to the supermarket with me to see what he can get for his budget.  That boy is in for a hell of a shock soon. 

Reminds me of a friend whose nurse-in-training daughter keeps popping home at the weekend 'just to say Hi!' and raids her cupboards because 'food is really expensive isn't it mum?' then she nicks half the contents of the fridge and leaves.   Cupboard love.

Happy Last  English Bank Holiday until Boxing Day.

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

Oh f0xh0les that sounds depressing - no more bank hols till the end of the year, boohoo
Whenever i used to visit DD2 at uni (usually one or two times a month) i took some of my HM goodies with me and did a SM shop for her!  She does cook though and uses the budget SMs. 
Deni x

f0xh0les

Well DS1 is moving down mid September, and is already talking about coming home for the day for DH's birthday 2 weeks later, then half term is 2 weeks after that, and I was considering taking the smalls for 2-3 days uptown in a YHA (£50 for a 4 bed or £58 for a 6 bed) and doing the British Museum, the V&A and Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, and National Portrait gallery and The Tate - all free museums and galleries, and walk them up the Mall and through Regents and Hyde Parks.

I can do it on the cheap, and although I am not completely abandoning DS1 I do actually want him to do things for himself!

Not to the extent of my 'extremely hands-off' parents, but I would never have asked my parents for half the stuff DS1 is asking us for - a whisk and mixing bowl??

Deni_debt-free_dreamer

your proposed trip to That London sounds fab, it is a good place to visit and see all the sights IRL not just on telly.  Is DS1 a cake maker then?!  I had those parents too; i think i went to uni with one of everything and i only went home once in term time for the whole 3 years I was there and no family ever visited me  !  I was the eldest but i did feel a bit sad when friends had their families visiting them; luckily i had good friends and just visited their families and got looked after by other people 's parents i have often wondered if i'm too old to be adopted  

greenbee

Can you suggest to DS1 that he takes the basics with him to uni and then sees what he is missing and sources it from charity shops? And that he can ask you how much he should be paying for stuff, but not to provide it/pay for it. Although you will offer him items that are being discarded, or to look out for stuff in your local charity shops as they are bound to be better value!

It's not abandoning him, it's helping him stand on his own two feet. So many of my peers couldn't boil an egg or work a washing machine when they started uni... it's not helpful to mollycoddle your kids!

ChasingtheWelshdream

Hi Foxholes,

Lurker and lover of your diary as we have similar sounding houses (and we have just had our roof finished!!!)

With the wi-fi, we have a special extender thing that works through the house wiring because the walls are too numerous and thick to pick up the main signal.

I'm not entirely sure how it works, but we plug a little gadget into a plug socket near the router, then another one elsewhere in the house where the wi-fi can't reach. It sort of uses the electrical wiring circuit to transmit the signal between the two sockets. Then the receiving gadget creates it's own mini wi-fi network, with a different name and password.

I don't know the name of it, but our local computer shop came and set it up and it wasn't very expensive. It works well, as long as your phone etc are set up to connect to each network automatically.

Would something like that help?

greenbee

On the subject of wifi... my mum's house is pretty much all external walls as it's been extended and extended over the years. BT whole home mini works well. I got her 4 discs, although in theory she should only need a couple based on the size of the house. She now has a single network for the whole house. It might be worth a try - I did trawl through a lot of reviews on tech forums before committing to it and now have it here (and my brother and cousin have also installed it since, both in 4-storey houses).